News in Brief: Practice Management Updates

This roundup includes the following brief practice management updates:

The American Medical Directors Association, or AMDA, is looking for input from America's primary care physicians about certain types of care services they may include in their practices. The organization, which is dedicated to long-term care medicine, is conducting a survey of family physicians and internists regarding their perspectives on the provision of health care services to residents of nursing home facilities.

The online survey has a dual purpose. First, the AMDA wants to better estimate the number and demographic mix of U.S. primary care physicians who include nursing home visits in their mix of services. The organization also wants to know why physicians make that choice.

Once the survey is completed, the AMDA will share the results with the AAFP and the American College of Physicians. The data gathered from the survey should prove helpful in future policy and funding discussions that revolve around the health care needs of nursing home residents.

Physicians should complete the survey by May 29.

Family Practice Management invites all AAFP members who use commercial electronic health records, or EHRs, to participate in FPM's third EHR user satisfaction survey. The survey is available online and only takes about five minutes to complete. Survey responses must be received by July 31.

Look for product-specific survey results in an upcoming FPM issue.

Bob Edsall, editor-in-chief of FPM and one of the co-authors of the FPM article announcing the launch of the survey (Members/Paid Subscribers Only), says much has transpired in the world of health information technology, or health IT, since the journal's last such survey was fielded two years ago.

He points out that the lure of government funding for health IT likely will entice more physicians into the EHR market. That makes the survey results all the more important because EHR-savvy FPs can help their colleagues who are contemplating a health IT purchase avoid costly mistakes. In addition, survey results may spur vendor improvements in EHR technology, which stands to benefit all physicians.